Links and Resources

Service Learning can be simply
defined as an opportunity to promote the development of active
involvement and integration between academia and real life experiences.
Students who participate in service learning experiences are able to
apply what they have learned in class to real world situations.

Community Based Research is
research completed in the community with the assistance of community
partners. Community based research is different from traditional
service learning because it incorporates a participatory component by
adding community members to the research team. Instead a providing a
direct service, as students do with traditional service learning, the
students are working side by side with community members and they are
each learning.

Community based research and student service-learning could not
take place without good community university partnerships. Community
partnerships are something that must be cultivated over time. By
building a successful partnership with community organizations and
community members, universities can bridge the gap in the gown-town
relationship and bring academia into the real world. As relationships
become stronger more university students are able to participate in
learning experiences outside of the classroom.

North Carolina Campus Compact North Carolina Campus Compact, launched in 2002, builds the
capacity of colleges and universities to produce civically-engaged
graduates and to strengthen communities. The Compact state office works
to provide resources, training and opportunities to member campuses that they may not be able to pursue individually. Elon University
serves as our host and fiscal agent and we are a member of national
Campus Compact, which has nearly 1,200 presidential members, and 35 state offices.